


Reluctant Questing

by godaime_obito



Series: Madatobi Week 2018 [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, MadaTobi Week 2018, kaguya is mainly just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 01:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15546375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godaime_obito/pseuds/godaime_obito
Summary: Madatobi week; August 3rd: Supernatural/fantasyTobirama has never been fond of the biggest convening of wizards, and knowing he'll have to see Madara again after all these years isn't helping.





	Reluctant Questing

Tobirama approaches the great castle reluctantly. He’d much rather not be here, but as the most renowned necromancer of the age he really cannot skip the most important convening of wizards. It only happens once a decade and people will notice if he skips, unlike ten years ago. When he was a 28-year-old upstart he left early to make out with Madara Uchiha in the woods by the castle and no one noticed. Of course, that entire scenario is a lifetime away, Madara himself is supposedly a premier illusionist now. He really can’t picture it. Tobirama hasn’t seen Madara in eight years, and at that point the man’s primary form of wizardry was accidently setting things on fire, which isn’t even part of the Illusionist school of magic.

He walks briskly through the entry towards the main meeting chamber. The ornate chandeliers overhead glimmer with enchanted flame, and the smell of magic clings everywhere. It’s an invigorating feeling, and the atmosphere of the event almost makes up for its content. Unfortunately, though, nothing can entirely make up for a full day of arguing between the top members of all eight schools of wizardry: Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation. Tobirama and his colleague Orochimaru’s main goal for this meeting is to adjust regulation and the education template to better promote Necromancy, which is to say try to improve PR, so it isn’t the ‘evil’ school. Personally, he thinks it would be easier to run a smear campaign against another school so it becomes the evil one, the school of Illusion perhaps. He’s not just saying that because of Madara, the school’s emphasis is ‘Deception and trickery.’ Using such negatively connotated words is asking for a smear campaign.

In the chamber, everything is almost precisely as he remembers it being ten years ago, for the short bit he did attend at least. However, there is a feeling in the air that he does not recall. A sour tinge to the ambient magic, that grows stronger the closer he draws to the alter at the head of the room.  Tobirama glances around to see if anyone else notices, but no one is acting as though anything is wrong. Perhaps he’s being paranoid, but his magic sensing has always been a cut above the rest.

Tobirama turns sharply and retreats out of the chamber. Until he figures out the cause he’s not exposing himself to the alter and whatever is wrong with it. Worried about the potential disaster something going wrong at a meeting like this could trigger, he hurries toward the castle library. Hopefully he has time for some research. Rounding a corner, he smacks into something, no, someone.

Madara. He appears to have been in just as much of a hurry as Tobirama, and just as surprised at running into him. His hair is disheveled with pieces falling out of its high ponytail, and his face is flushed. As soon as his shock wears off Madara sets right into his customary sputtering. One of them is going to have to move this encounter along.

“Madara, how… good to see you,” Tobirama says.

“Don’t say it like that!” Madara seethes. He really hasn’t changed a bit.

“Say it like what?” he asks.

“You know exactly what I mean!” he says, and flicks some of his loose hair out of his eyes with more frustration than Tobirama thought could be put into such a small gesture. “Actually, it doesn’t matter. What are you doing away from the meeting?” he continues.

On second thought Madara has changed. He must have gotten some anger management to just let it go like that. Tobirama is reluctantly impressed; perhaps this is a manifestation of the breakthrough that finally allowed him to move on from his long-lasting accidental fire phase.

“Something is wrong with the alter, and no one else seemed inclined to investigate. I won’t be attending till it’s fixed,” Tobirama explains.

“You felt it too!” he exclaims, then continues in a more subdued manner, “or at least something similar. I’ve been running around trying to figure out what was going on, since I sensed some strange illusion magics in the main chamber.”

“I sensed a sour tinge to the magic originating from the alter in the main chamber, and was headed to the library to look into it,” he clarifies, “but knowing it is likely illusion based does give me a point to start researching at.”

“I’m coming with you,” Madara asserts. Tobirama starts moving towards the library without answering. If he wants to come he’s completely free to follow. Tobirama hardly has monopoly of access to the library.

* * *

 

They’ve been looking through illusion magic tombs, as well as any books they believe might have information on the alter itself, for about two hours and have yet to make any headway. The meeting has probably hit full swing, and if two people of their caliber don’t show up soon, someone is likely to come looking for them. Maybe whoever it is can help them look through the shelves. Although, it has been nice to spend time alone with Madara again after all these years.

Technically they split amicably when they broke up eight years ago. They agreed they were simply at two different places, and with their careers to think of, didn’t have the time to make it work. However, in practice neither of them are the type to take a split from something they were that invested in well, so they ended up faintly bitter. Tobirama and Madara are both at the tops of their fields now, in more stable places both career wise and, as it seems from Madara’s improved temper, emotionally. Is this impromptu study session a sign to give it another try? Tobirama can’t help but think it might be.

He is deciding what to say to broach the topic tactfully, when a great rumble shakes the library. Tomes and scrolls fall from the towering shelves with great thuds, and a few of the shelves themselves look ready to collapse. He and Madara jump from their seats and race out the door simultaneously to find the whole castle is shaking. The strange magic is spreading out from the main chamber, and rapidly changing from an off-putting sour feeling to a corrupt black miasma. Running towards the source, Tobirama spots a prone figure laying on the hall floor.

“Orochimaru?” he calls. He crouches down to check on his fellow necromancer. He must have been coming to see why Tobirama never met up with him. He’s alive, but seems to be caught by the spreading corruption.

“Whatever this is it’s caught him in an illusion,” Madara announces from where he is peering over Tobirama’s shoulder at him.

“If he’s only in an illusion what’s causing the very physical shaking?” he wonders.

Madara opens his mouth to reply, but stops short when a tremor grows under their feet, and a large white substance bursts from the ground. Great white tendrils form from the viscous liquid and encase Orochimaru. Tobirama grabs Madara by the arm and takes off toward the nearest window as the tendrils reach towards them.

“Prepare for a sudden exit,” he shouts over the renewed sound of crumbling stone. Tobirama breaks through the stain glass window, with Madara right behind him. They both hit the ground from the second story window rolling, and transition cleanly into a run.

“Oh gods! She returns!”

“Who the fuck returns Madara? Is this some illusionist nonsense?” Tobirama yells. He does not have time for cryptic babble while running for his life.

“The evil goddess Kaguya. This must be her,” Madara says. They’ve gotten a good distance into the forest and slowed their pace. The corruption’s spread seems to have slowed significantly from its initial outburst. At least for now.

“Is the evil goddess Kaguya an illusion related evil goddess? Is that why you know about her supposed return?”

“… She wasn’t always evil,” Madara defends.

Tobirama knew the school of illusion was the real evil school of wizardry. Oh gods, he’s going to be stuck on some sort of goddess slaying quest, isn’t he? He takes back what he thought earlier, he doesn’t want to get back together with Madara at all.

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically the start of d&d style adventure, where Madara, Tobirama, Touka, Izuna, are sent on a quest by the sage of the six paths, along with his high priestess Princess Mito of Uzu, to retrieve his staff and journey back to the alter to use the staff to destroy it and stop Kaguya’s return. Along the way Madara and Tobirama get back together, and Mito and Touka elope. Izuna is a bard who has a fun time with various people along the way.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [In Retrograde](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051349) by [thatrandomnpc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatrandomnpc/pseuds/thatrandomnpc)




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